When it comes to B2B cold calling, different sales reps have different opinions and experiences.
While successful sales reps will say,
“It helped me a lot.”
“It has been yielding results for me.”
On the other hand, those who had not-so-good experience will have their reasons for not liking it.
“But it's not working.”
“I'm wasting my time.”
“People just hang up the phone.”
While sales reps may face challenges in cold calling, A few of them might try to figure out the reasons to fail.
Here are the five most common mistakes sales reps do that lead to unproductive cold calling attempts.
1. Talking to the wrong people
The most common mistake by many inexperienced sales reps is to get excited when somebody – anyone – starts listening. They try to convenience the wrong person thinking that he would connect them to the decision-maker.
While it may be a good idea to get your foot in the door, you should keep it as the secondary option. First, identify the decision-maker and try to connect with them. Find out how you can reach them directly. If you cannot find the decision-maker and if it's a big fish to catch, build a rapport with the easily approachable person and ask them to introduce you to the decision-maker.
Thus, qualify the person on the phone before you start your pitch.
2. Taking too long to Ask a Question
You begin a cold call with a 45-second introduction and your cold call is ready to fail. Your opportunity is likely to be zoned well before you finish communicating (and that's saying they haven't hung up the phone). Keep the speech brief and simple and ask questions as soon as possible.This may be product-specific, or more common — something like "what are your thoughts on our discussion so far?"
3. Asking Close-Ended Questions
This is in continuation of the previous point.If you want to engage your prospect on call, you need to make them talk/discuss more in short intervals. However, many sales reps tend to ask close-ended questions (answered with a simple "yes" or "no"). This gives prospects an easy way out of a call. The close-ended questions make it difficult to learn more about their Challenges. On the other hand, open-ended questions not only help you understand their challenges but, also makes it easier to get them engaged.
4. Sounding Too Nervous
It is natural for an inexperienced sales rep to sound timid. This makes it easy for the prospects to talk over and get off the phone without making a strong impact. Do not let the “No” impact your confidence.Listening “No” is a part and parcel of the cold calling game.The best sales reps sound strong and confident from the get-go. Of course, it takes practice and experience to sound confident without sounding salsy or dominant.The best way to excel in your game is to do some research on your prospects using reliable B2B data before you calling them.
5. Trying to Close Too Soon
Closing the deal is a vital aspect of the B2B sales process. However, learning how and when to close is important.It may be enticing for the sales reps to close the deal in a single call so that you can finish up and switch to your next call. However, rushing to close in a single interaction will make prospects feel pressured.The final result? You are losing the opportunity and wasting all your efforts you made to keep them positive and engaged.Your goal should be to schedule a meeting or share your company brochure or a free trial/ demo.
Wrapping Up
No matter how each call goes, keep dialing the prospects but with a smart research approach. Treat every call — good or bad — as learning .